Public hearing Wednesday for Costco EIR

The Ukiah Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday on the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a proposed Costco store on Airport Park Boulevard.

According to the staff report prepared for the commission's Feb. 27 meeting, David Babcock and Associates applied for "a rezoning, a major site development permit and a lot line adjustment" to allow for the construction of a Costco warehouse and fuel station at the south end of Airport Park Boulevard.

The project site is 12 parcels that total 15.33 acres currently covered with grass and trees, located between the Ken Fowler Auto Center and the southern end of Airport Park Blvd.

The size of the warehouse store would be a maximum of 148,000 square feet and include a bakery, pharmacy, optical center, food court and tire center. The tire center is described as a 5,692-square-foot, attached building that includes a tire installation facility.

The gas station would be located in the southeast corner of the site and include 16 pumps initially, with an option to expand to 20, and have a canopy of 2,816-square-feet.

"The building entrance ... provides Costco and the city with the opportunity to make a unique' Ukiah statement," according to the project description provided by David Babcock. "The building orientation will position the most dynamic design features facing the Highway 101 corridor. When approaching from the south, this location will present itself as the welcoming feature of the city."

The description also notes that about 10 trucks a day (on weekdays) are expected to make deliveries to the store between 3 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and those trucks will be from 26 feet long to 54 feet long. Fuel will be delivered twice a day, and the "largest fuel trucks are approximately 70 feet long."

The draft EIR identified three types of impacts from the project: Less than Significant Impacts, Potentially Significant Impacts and Significant and Unavoidable Impacts. The less than significant impacts included urban decay, noise and population and housing, and the potentially significant impacts included aesthetics, hazards and hazardous materials and biological resources.

The Significant and Unavoidable impacts, those which "cannot be eliminated or reduced to a less than significant level," were identified as "air quality, transportation and traffic and global climate change."

According to the report, the city has identified that traffic improvements will be necessary in the area, whether a Costco is built or not, and has "begun preliminary engineering" for the work and while "potential funding sources have been identified ... full funding is not guaranteed at this time."

The Ukiah City Council last week approved city staff borrowing another $4 million to pay for widening intersections, adding traffic signals and reworking the intersection of Talmage Road and southbound Hwy 101.

After the city issued official notices that the draft EIR was ready, it held a "scoping meeting" to take comments on what the environmental study should include and received letters that raised issues such as: traffic impacts to the ramps of Highway 101 and the Talmage bridge, health risks associated with gasoline sales, increases in storm water volumes and pollutants, visual impacts on Hwy 101 and the potential for urban decay within the unincorporated area.

The commission's meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at 300 Seminary Avenue.

Comments on the draft EIR will be accepted until March 15 at 5 p.m., and should be sent to: City of Ukiah, Planning and Community Development Department, Attention: Kim Jordan, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA. 95482, or e-mailed to kjordan@cityofukiah.com

Links to the document can be found online at www.cityofukiah.com, or the document can be read at the city's Community and Planning Department or the Ukiah Library at 105 North Main Street.

Justine Frederiksen can be reached at udjjf@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.